Wizards-Real Salt Lake preview

Finally, the end is in sight. After today’s game, the Wizards will get to return to the confines of the CAB next weekend. They haven’t played at home since April 12th. What’s worse is they’ve failed to win since April 12th at Chicago. While RSL hasn’t been the most dominant side so far, they’ve yet to lose at Rice Eccles Stadium on their lovely astroturf.

It’s vital to get some points today. With the way things are going in the East, any more points dropped would mean falling further off the pace. The only team that KC sits in front of at the moment is the struggling DC United. A win today would only keep them one point behind New York. Falling four points behind New York would make catching up much more difficult.

There’s bad news today with playmaker Carlos Marinelli listed as doubtful. A shame that the player with the ability to pull strings in the midfield can’t get out. It’s especially critical for late season success, as Carlos and Claudio have showed flashes of excellent play together. Lance Watson (who has yet to play all season) and Roger Espinoza will also miss today’s game through ankle injuries. Espinoza has yet to feature after red card against Columbus. Hopefully he can get himself back on track once he returns from injury.

Winning today would be huge. As I’ve noted before, the playoffs remain far out of reach right now - although there is still a lot of soccer to play this year. I’m picking Real to score one and maintain their impressive home record. Hopefully, a return to the CAB next weekend will spark a turn around. Or a win today would be even better.

Category: Pre-/Post-Game Reports, Real Salt Lake

Tags: Pre-/Post-Game Reports, Real Salt Lake

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share